Live A Different Life

I'm so so so frustated! How can it be that you have just explained to a person that what he is doing is not ideal and he just looked back at you and say he will do it anyway. I felt like banging my head at the wall. Did you completely just sleep through the conversation?!!

This is the whole of the converstion

Me: Do you have a syringe or measuring cup at home that can measure the dose?
Custy: I just give her a spoonsful.
Me: (silently thinking, did you not hear what I just ask?) Spoons come in different sizes and it's important that the patient gets the right dose each time. We recommend that you buy a measuring spoon/cup.
Custy: I won't pay for that. I will just use a teaspoon.
Me: (silently screaming, if that will work that why do you think I am still talking to you!) It is best that she gets the right dose each time and a teaspoon is not an accurate measure.
(Custy looks at me blankly)
Me: (sigh~) I will get you a free measure.
Me: Here you are, make sure that she gets the right dose each time and keep the cup for future use. Do not use a teaspoon as a measure.
(Custy still looks at me blankly)

Urgh! I just felt like I was talking to myself. Why is it that people don't listen when it concerns their health? Do you not care about your medicine and how you should take it?!

When you work 5 days a week. 8 hours a day: typing, dispensing, checking, double-checking, correct error, give to customers, filing, doing batch, blister pack, pre-packing, stocking, OTC sales, every script begin to look very similar, every patient walking through the door become a number, not a person.

We do what we are trained to do: dispense, check, give to patient, next item please. But every patient is different, every customer is unique. It's easy to get swallowed up by the routine of work but it's also easy to get out of the routine. Go an extra mile for a customer, a smile is taken kindly by a patient.

I have worked with quite a few pharmacists in the past few months and they were all great pharmacists but there is one that have made an impression. She remembers the names of regular customers, familiar with their current situations and expresses kindness for those who is in need.

Health professionals are the ambassadors of health systems, complex medical terms, medical examinations and medicines. It's important for us to remember that eveyone needs compassion and random act of kindness would be appreciated. One nice comment or a smile might make someone's day.

Growing up is part of life. Sometimes I feel like I am an adult, working and all that but there are times when I miss being young. Photos of old friends, memories of good and bad times, what had being, could be and is.

Fishing is the new black! Well, Alex goes fishing and I just sit there look pretty and attract the fish. I love fishing and I love eating the products of the activity. The best part of fishing is that just as you are going to pack up and go home, something bites! It's very exciting :)

Yes, yes, yes I am guilty of not updating my blog for ages. I sincerely apologise for the lack of update.

Imagine this: you work in a profession where confidentiality is the cornerstone of your work and you work 4o hours a week and often arrive home too tired to do anything adventurous. What do you blog about then? I'm sure you are not interested in finding out that it takes me 15 minutes to get home then I prepare dinner, watch Friends and Campbell Live, have dinner, shower, watch The Mentalist and go to bed at 10pm. Multiply these events by 5 times and you have my weekly diary in your hands.

On a different note, it was scary to know that I might accidentally kill someone one day, how's that for an interesting career path? We went to Wellington for our training days last week. It was awesome food, great company, beautiful scenery, and useful learning from experienced pharmacists. We were told all these horror stories about dispensing errors. It was scary to know that even if you are 99% accurate in your dispensing, you are likely to kill 16 people during your entire career. No!!!! I am not a murderer...

Guess what?! Alex caught his first fish, losing his fishy-nity to Moki! It was legen...wait for it...dary, legendary! (it's funny if you watch How I met your mother, and if you don't, you really should watch it. It's awesome.) First saturday off in a long long time resulted in Alex taking his fishing rod and equipments on a fishing trip and came back with Mr. Moki. He was very yummy (the fish I mean).

We were both extremely excited so we decided to go on another fishing trip today just to try our beginner's luck...and guess what again?! We caught Mrs Moki. Poor couple both ended up in our tummy...yum yum...

As both Mr. and Mrs. Moki are safely in our tummies, we can only make do with this image courtesy of a NZ local website:

7 days, 4 cities later, I am finally back in Napier! Graduation was great with rain, friends, family and fellow graduates :) Good old Dunedin with its super cold weather and super rainy face reminds me of the good old times being a scarfie. Go Dunedin!

Some pictures from the weekend






It was great meeting up with old friends & new friend, ie baby Alex! I felt like the graduation weekend was the busiest day(s) ever in my life. Dinner and sleepover at Jocelyn and Sharon's flat on Friday night, picked up Alex and my parents on Saturday morning, picked up regalia, makeup put on by experts, Jocelyn and Sharon, put on regalia, rush to Town Hall 10 minutes late (and apparently our names were called out *oops*), sat for 1 hour and a half for 5 seconds of fame, pictures with family, friends and lecturers, dinner @ Lone Star, reunion at Jocelyn's flat, sleep, more photos the next morning, more reunion at Jitsu, brief visit to Microbiology building and onto the bus back to Christchurch, sleep, flight to Wellington, met May for 2 hours and bus back to Napier. Whew, I felt tired even just typing all the things I have done in the past few days. I feel like I am getting older...oh no~

I have just realised that I haven't blogged in > 1 month. 10 updates since I last blogged:

1. Jocelyn, May and Michelle's trip to Napier was awesome. Legendary!
2. Graduation coming up! 23rd May @ Dunedin Town Hall. Be there :)
3. I am baking biscotti =P
4. I will be going back to Auckland this weekend. What's up?
5. I am going to carry out my first ever medicines use review. How cool is that?!
6. I love 'How I met your mother' Highly recommended
7. I haven't decided on my outfit for the graduation. Ugh!!!
8. I miss Dunedin and all my friends. Group hug
9. I want a dog!
10. All I can think about now is...YUM CHA!

It's confirmed! They are coming! Super excited that friends are coming to Napier for easter holiday! I was quite worried that it would not happen. There were talks and discussions but we didn't really confirm because there are too many unknown factors eg airfare, whether Joss can get a break from her lab, will I get the weekend off etc but *drumroll* it is a GO!

Trying to decide how to showcase Hawkes Bay but realise that I myself is a 'visitor' with 3 months experience..not that best tour guide per se but I will try my best! Hawkes Bay is famous for several things: fruit, wine and leisure! Since I don't eat fruit often and don't drink wine, that leaves leisure! Leisure = Ocean Spa, Splash Planet, walk by the beach (next to Marine Parade, Napier's main street), nice dinners, fish and chips, go to Cape Kidnappers for gannets, go to Ahuriri and Bluff Hill for beautiful overview of the harbour, checking out Art Deco designs etc etc.

The trip to Wellington was fun and food-packed. I felt like the whole trip was orientated around food, fOOd, and FOOD! Wellington = great food. Alex and I arrived in Wellington on Sunday morning, arrived at May's flat in one piece. I really like May's flat. It's close to where she studies, it's spacious and it's on top of a pharmacy.

After we sorted out a rental car, we had a drive around town and started walking around town in search food. After dinner, we went to Arise Church. It was really an eye-opener. Dry ice, live video feed, camera man running around taking video, very cool! The worship and sermon were awesome and the people were really friendly. Reminded me of Cityside. I miss you guys!

The training days were great, the pharmacists were very nice and I learnt heaps. Interesting scenarios, role plays and communication lecture. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I must say the three days were well spent! Looking forward to the next training days in August!

It was really awesome that Sharon and Cynthia were in Wellington at the same time as well. It was fun catching up with them over food and bubble tea. In the space of three days, we have been to 5 restaurants and 2 bubble tea shops. The winner of best restaurant is....*drumroll* KK! With May's recommendation, we went to KK for dinner on Monday night. I ordered fried keow tiew, my favourite dish in Malaysia. Didn't dare to get my hopes high because of previous disappointments, I kept my fingers crossed that it will be edible. It was not only edible, it tasted exactly like keow tiew straight from Malaysia! We went to Mo Mo Tea and Cha for bubble tea and I personally think that Mo Mo Tea's bubble tea were great but Cha's cakes were awesome. Both have their pros and cons but I will definitely visit both again next time.

Excited! Going to Wellington this weekend! Can't wait!

I'm very excited that wellington is going to I...I mean I am going to Wellington. So excited that I can't form a complete sentence. For one, I haven't seen May for 3 months and secondly, I love Wellington. Well, I have only been there once but really love the whole atmosphere :) Not so excited that we have to read a 40-page book on Maori culture, answer questions and do assignment. I know 40 pages is not a lot but..but...I'm not a student anymore.

Photos from Wellington (on the way to Napier from Dunedin/Christchurch)

Happy Birthday Michelle, the coolest gamer I have ever seen and Sharon, the evil girl who made me addicted to chocolate cookies! I love cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies. I think I'm still suffering from the side effects of eating Sharon's yummy cookies last year. So last Saturday, I baked some chocolate chips cookies. Umm...or should I say I TRIED to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Feeling really excited about baking cookies, I went to The Warehouse and Pak n' Save to buy some basic bakeware and ingredients.

For those of you who are not familiar with Napier (which I guess is everyone), it is famously known as the Art Deco City. The reason behind this is that there was an earthquake in 1930s which destroyed many buildings in Napier and new buildings built around that time has a distinct touch of art deco - the trend of 1930s. To celebrate Napier and Art Deco period, Napier city hosts an Art Deco week every year in February.

My first Art Deco Weekend in Napier :)

Today at work, we have an interesting 'patient'. So this is how it happened:

I was minding my business, researching about the new omeprazole brand and its formulation (yes, it was very interesting) when I suddenly spotted an visitor in the dispensary.

He walked right into the dispensary like he owns the place. Well, considering the fact that he is super cute, no one kicked him out of the dispensary. After careful examination of his tag and a phone call, the official owner of the doggie has finally been located. Don't know how he managed to wander into the pharmacy but considering that he walks into the pharmacy instead of the KFC next door, I have determined that he is a dog of high IQ. Maybe a pharmacist within the dog population as well, hence the natural attraction. Too bad I can't bring it home.


Offically started work as an intern pharmacist for 1 month and a half. It has been an interesting learning process and I finally understand why my parents sleep so early at night. Now, I can proudly say that I am a working person who sleeps at 10pm and wakes up at 7.30am, super healthy! 1 month+ into the internship, I really start to appreciate all the things that I learnt in university, things that I thought I would never used.

Highest record: 6 compoundings a day!
Favourite item: Lorapaed (it smells like peach, i likey likey)
Favourite activity: Explain Losec and Dr. Reddy's funding issue to patient. I love PHARMAC. (Yeah right!)
First item I sold over-the-counter: Day & Night flu

1 and a half month down, 10 months to go! Gambate, everyone!

Gong Xi Fa Chai (Guess what follows next =P) Happy New Year to my family and friends, all of whom I miss dearly.

Missing in action for the past month, I have been busy (not busy sleeping)! Celebrated my 20th birthday, drove from Christchurch to Napier officially started work, collecting my first paycheck as an intern, drove to Gisborne to visit Fiona and just worked from 9 to 5 on a Saturday.

Too lazy to write so let the photos do the talking














Finally, my favourite photo